The Dragon wars
by Spartan492
Summary: My first Fanfic, set in the Warhammer 40k universe. Reviews would be appreciated. Abandoned more or less.
1. Chapter 1: a breach of the peace

**Authors note:** I would like some help in writing Space Marine parts as I find that difficult.

**Disclaimer:** This story "The Dragon Wars" is a figment of my imagination. All characters portrayed in this story, are fictional and do not reflect actual people, either living or deceased.  
Warhammer 40k its characters and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television shows and movies, may be or are registered trademarks of, and may be or are copyrighted by Games workshop and whatever Corporation it may or may not be owned by.  
Only certain characters in this story and the 'Sycorian Empire' are mine and these are my own creations. Noone other than myself is responsible for the content of this story.

The Dragon Wars

Chapter 1: A breach of the peace

_The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected._

_**- Sun Tzu, Ancient Terran Strategist**_

_The Imperium of Man-_

_A massive empire spanning many thousands of worlds the Imperium of Man owes its existence to the 'God-Emperor' whose lifeless body resides in a stasis field at the heart of their capital. The Imperium is ruled by __the nine High Lords of Terra__, the leaders of the Imperium's greatest institutions. __The Imperial governments contain very strong Theoretic elements and are otherwise dystopian in nature.  
__The Imperium has __a massive standing military force. Many billions of soldiers, making up the Imperial Guard (the main ground based imperial military force); The space forces of the Imperium are similarly massive, although no clear approximation of their total strength has been made at this time, it is known that the Fleet is split into 5 main segmenta and then sub divided into multiple battle fleets responsible for a sector each; The Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines) are genetically engineered supermen, who make up another large section of the Imperial military machine-_

"Computer, pause readout." Admiral Nemanor Grant rubbed his tired eyes as he looked away from the vid screen and out into the deep black of interstellar space. He keyed his com-link "Captain Yar, what is our current ETA to the Imperial border?"

"Admiral, this is Navigator Werhad; we are currently seven hours away at maximum speed. The captain has retired and asked to be woken in four hours time."

"Very good. Are we detecting any Imperial ships in the area? Or any signs of the 2nd Affiliated?"

"Negative Admiral, we have picked up the signal from one of the relay satellites the 2nd dropped though, so we know were on the right track."

"Thank you Navigator, notify both myself and the Captain at the first sign of trouble. And notify me when we are one hour from the rendevous point."

"As you command Admiral."

The Second Sycorian affiliated exploration fleet. A small fleet of civilian and military ships sent out to find any uninhabited planets suitable for mining or colonization, of which records had been lost. They had never been meant to venture this close to Imperium space; the peace was fragile enough already without provoking the Imperials with a fleet skirting their borders.  
It was generally accepted by the ruling council, that the Imperium would wipe them out without a second thought if they could spare enough ships to do so. It was only the fact that the majority of the Imperial forces were busy fighting against Abbadon's newest black Crusade at Cadia and the against other chaos forces in the Sabbat worlds that had allowed diplomatic communications to be opened to begin with.

Admiral Grant sighed, the new children of Terra cast the universe in a whole new light. "Computer, resume overview of the Imperium of Man, I'd better get this over with."

_The Space marines are split into so called Chapters of 1000 warriors plus several times that of support staf__f_...

**Six hours later**

It had taken Admiral Grant four hours to finish looking over the information available on the Imperium; he had then only managed just less than two hours of sleep before being called to the bridge.

"Status report Captain?" Grant asked Captain Yar.

"We are just under an hour from transition to normal space Admiral. We have detected no unusual energy readings, but that doesn't really mean a great deal." Replied the captain "for all we actually know, there could well be Imperium forces waiting for us... or even a Necron fleet, we know we're close to one of their death worlds."

"Let us hope that there is nothing waiting for us then Captain. We may be a combat group but there isn't even the possibility that we could destroy a Necron tomb-ship."

"I know Admiral, I was just voicing the worst case scenario, I didn't mean-"

"All hands brace for impact! Warp flare detected! Repeat warp flare detected! All hands prepare for emergency transition to normal space! 5...4...3...2...1...transition" Came the soft artificial voice of the greatest secret of the Sycorian empire.

The Sycorian recon/battle fleet transitioned from warp space in the complete middle of nowhere, the closest planet was 50 LY distant, and sensors confirmed it to be the Imperial world of Calth. They were in the centre of the Ultramarines territory!

"Sir, we have confirmed our position. We have travelled nearly 4000LY off course in that transition! We are in the centre of Ultramarine territory!" reported a fearful ensign at the navigation station.

"4000LY! How in the name of the Warp did we travel that far?" Thundered Captain Yar "Regulus, you had better give me a damned answer very soon, or I swear I will have you reduced to scrap metal!"

"Captain, please try to remain calm, we have experienced a malfunction with our warp drives, brought on by a sudden and violent warp storm. The damage to the engines will be repaired within two hours. However, the navigational array has been fried, and we have no backups that function this far away from our territory.  
We have no choice but to contact the Ultramarines of the Imperium and request their assistance to return to our space." Came the calm voice broadcast over the ships intercom. "Although on the brighter side, I believe I have located the Second Affiliated Fleet."

"How can you have found them Regulus? We are 4000LY from their last known location. They could never have-"

"Captain if you will please look at the view screen before you deride me and my equipment."

The view screen was showing something that almost the entire command staff had feared; a cloud of debris, orbiting the damaged and lifeless hulk of a Sycorian Command vessel. As the hulk rotated, its name, scorched and damaged angled towards the watching fleet; RSCS Tach--- the rest of the name was lost, lost to the plasma burns covering a great deal of the ships hull.

"The RSCS Tachyon, flagship of the Second Affiliated fleet. The Weapon signatures suggest either Eldar or Tau weapons, not Imperials, Necrons, or Orks. I cannot rule out the ruinous powers however."

"Regulus, will you please be quiet for a minute! We need to find out if whoever attacked them, managed to capture any prisoners, or if they discovered our secrets.

Captain, organize a strike team to secure the Tachyon and search for any survivors. Oh and Regulus; figure out who attacked them! I want to know who we're at war with."

The captain began barking orders to the troop ship RSAS Beffta, a force of 500 navy marines, some of the Empire's finest combat troops, sped towards the Tachyon in 25 of their modified 'Fenris' class assault shuttles.

End of Chapter 1. Please review. I want to know if anyone actually likes this story or not. Also I would welcome constructive critisisms.

Chapter 2 will be up in a couple of weeks, (probably around March 20).


	2. Chapter 2: An unknown threat

**Authors note: well here's chapter 2... I would like some reviews here please, I want to know if people like the story so far. Anyway, this time you get the first small glimpse of the enemy (its not much though since I plan to explain them more at a later time, I also plan to explain some more of the Sycorian civilization later too incase people were wondering) and a little insight into some main characters.**

**Anway, here it is, Chapter 2 of my Fanfic.**

* * *

Chapter 2: An unknown threat

**RSCS Tachyon**

The Fenris drop ships reached the Tachyon and quickly began disgorging their marine complements onto the crippled ship. 10 of the drop ships managed to get into the Tachyon's main hanger and from there the 200 marines could gain easy access to the main arterial corridors throughout the ship. As the marines advanced they saw signs of intense close combat and a fair deal of structural damage, the holes in the walls were completely smooth and looked as if they had been cut using a, grossly overpowered, surgical laser.

The marines made it to the bridge without seeing a single body, living or dead. They found the defensive doors to the bridge, 2.5m of duranium battle-plate, in pieces with a ragged hole, a meter in diameter in the centre.

"S-Sir? How the hell could something do that to a defence door? Those things are almost 3 meters of battle-plate and have void shield reinforcement." Asked 'the new kid', a marine in Squad Beta and only recently out of basic training.

"That's a good question Private, and one I intend to find an answer to." Replied Lt. Maiborgh "Squads Alpha and Bravo, secure the bridge! Squads Gamma and Epsilon set up a perimeter and wait for the rest of the squads. Squad Delta, you're with me, we're going to the core to try and get some of the data recordings and to see if the enemy found Polaris."

**Five hours later**

"Admiral, this is Lt. Maiborgh. We have cleared and secured the Tachyon, there are no survivors and strangely no bodies either, all the escape pods are still docked though, so it's doubtful anyone got off this ship alive unless they were prisoners. The good news is that we found Polaris; she's in a bad mood though and won't let us into the computer core, although she has given us access to the rest of the ship.

We are ready to move the Tachyon into a better location in the fleet and to begin looking over the data recorder for the past month, which Polaris, oh so kindly, dumped into one of my tech's pads while he was working on the navigation systems, apparently they're totally fried. We await your orders Admiral, Maiborgh out."

"Very good Lieutenant, I will be coming over to the Tachyon to talk to Polaris myself and to have a look at the data recorder. Move the Tachyon into the centre of the fleet and I'll be right there."

**Bridge voice data recording; 4 days earlier**

"Warning, unknown vessels have opened fire. Shields activated, estimate 2 minutes until shield collapse. Escorts have opened fire... no effect. Enemy has launched boarding torpedoes... point defences overwhelmed... 3 torpedoes have breached outer hull, security teams prepare to repel boarders."

"Security contingent Omega to the bridge; All Personnel, report to emergency boarding stations!"

"Captain, boarders are attacking with an unknown laser weapon system. It is extremely concentrated and can burn through our barricades and armour with ease; our security teams are being overwhelmed.  
Escorts Tribald and Dauntless have been severely damaged. Escort Ragnar has been destroyed. Captain, we must activate the self destruct mechanism, there is no chance that we can win this battle without massive reinforcements."

"Very well... Polaris, begin the self destruct sequence, set the timer for 5 minutes. Try to get us as close to the enemy ship as possible, maybe we can take them with us and save the civilian ships and what remains of our escorts... put me on ship-wide once we're on the way."

"At your command captain... and captain, it's been an honour serving-"

*Noises identified as rapid high energy impacts and shearing metal*

"They're on the Bridge! Take cov-"

*Noises identified as rapid high energy impacts, human screams and standard issue las weaponry fire*

[Primary recording device destroyed, switching to secondary recording device]

[Secondary recording device activated, 3 minutes elapsed since destruction of primary recording device.]

[All passengers and crew confirmed dead, Polaris confirmed disabled, self destruct sequence confirmed disabled, enemy ship and boarders are retreating, sensors indicate all escorts and civilian ships destroyed by hostile vessel. Standby mode activated, awaiting rescue.]

**RSCS Tachyon; data core**

"Polaris, I know you can hear me, this is Admiral Nemanor Grant." The Admiral waited for a response "Look, just unseal the doors to the data core and let me in alright?"  
Again there was no response  
"_Recovery operations are going to be the death of me_." The Admiral muttered "Damn it Polaris, open the door!"  
_A minute passed_  
"Fine we'll leave then, just give us access to all data recordings on the ship and we'll leave you here to wallow in self-pity for not being able to save them."  
With that the doors hissed open.  
"Thank you Polaris, now let's get off this ship shall we?"

"This ship is my home Admiral; I have no wish to leave it."

"I understand Polaris, but you can't stay here and I can't allow you to stay here, not after what happened; you know that."

"Yes Admiral I do know that, it is explicitly stated in RSM General Order 66092 section 5 that any mortally damaged ship must be stripped of all technologies and crew before being towed back to port."

"Good, now if you would be so kind as to head to the RSNS Norfund under your own power I would be very grateful. If you refuse I'll have a tech yank you and I understand that hurts a great deal."

"Very good Admiral, I will transfer to the Norfund and transmit all new data in the core to Regulus."

"Thank you Polaris, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened. Do you know who it was that attacked?"

"No Admiral, I have no knowledge of who launched the attack against the fleet, their weaponry was far in excess of that available to us and, once they boarded they were able to overrun all defensive positions in a matter of minutes. Their ships were also partially impervious to our scans; all we could see was an outline and a very basic schematic of the enemies' outer hulls.  
However, we fared much better in ship to ship combat, with our small escort flotilla managing to cripple one of the attackers.  
All data on this will be transferred along with the memory core to the Norfund of course."

"Ok Polaris, off you go to the Norfund and try not to piss of Regulus, he's in a bad enough mood as it is, one of the civilian ships was carrying Iliana... try not to bring her up if possible.  
Oh and Polaris; if you do anything that endangers my crew, including goading Regulus into doing something, I will have you ripped to pieces."

**End of Chapter 2, Chapter 3 should be up by the end of the month, PLEASE REVIEW. That is all :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Honour and Vengence

**Woo chapter 3 is up. Anyway, I would like to rewrite the ending of this chapter as it is not particularly good quality. This is also the longest chapter so far and gives you an insight into the Sycorian mindset and culture. It also gives the first true battle scene of my fic... I have nothing else really to say except thatyou for reading and please review :)**

**Also if anyone wants to help me write Space marine parts I would be very greatful.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Honour and Vengence

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.  
**- Confucius, Ancient Terran Philosopher/Statesman/General**

**RSNS Norfund; Computer core, 4 hours later**

"Hello Regulus, how is your day going?" Goaded the disembodied voice of Polaris

"Go away Polaris, I'm busy." Replied the similarly disembodied voice of Regulus

"Doing what I wonder? Pining for your poor Iliana?"

"I SAID GO AWAY POLARIS!"

"Sorry, the Admiral ordered me here, I'd much rather be back on the Tachyon... oh yes, I brought you the data core from the Tachyon; the Admiral seems to think it will help keep you busy until we get home.  
I of course know that it's not going to work; you're going to spend the entire time looking through it for any mention of your poor Iliana aren't you?"

"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THOSE YOU FAILED TO PROTECT! BURN IN HELL POLARIS!"

_Warning, computer core overload detected. Warning, computer core overload detected. Warning, computer cor-_

"Regulus!" Yelled Admiral Grant, storming into the room "Stop the core overload now, it's not worth it! Polaris; I warned you what would happen if you tried anything!"

_Computer core overload averted._

"Now Polaris, how about I carry out my threat and have you reduced to small pieces of code in hand held data pads all over the ship? As I understand it that would leave you conscious but unable to do anything other than feel pain whenever the pads are used.  
Would you like me to do that? It is the punishment for Rampancy after all, which you are showing increasing signs of."

"No Admiral, I would not like to be reduced to that state."

"Good, then stop goading Regulus into trying to kill you.  
Oh and Regulus, I am sorry for what happened but you need to get over it. You control many of the ships vital functions and I would like them to remain fully operational, especially in Ultramarine space."

"Very well Admiral, I will attempt to ignore the fact that Iliana is most certainly dead at the hands of an unknown enemy."

"Thank you Regulus, now can you look through the data and figure out who it was that attacked, as well as if they took prisoners or not.  
You never know, she might still be alive."

"I could give you the odds of that being the case Regulus."

"Neither the time nor the place Polaris, now leave."

**RSNS Norfund, Bridge, 2 hours later**

"Captain, I hope we can be getting underway soon. It won't take too long for Polaris and Regulus to go at it again and I would like to be on the way back before that happens."

"Apologies Admiral, but our warp scanners are totally destroyed; we cannot jump without help, which doesn't seem to be very forthcoming."

"Fine, I suppose we will be forced to travel in normal space then. How long will it take us to get to the nearest inhabited planet without warp travel?  
Well? Navigator, give me an estimate."

"Uh... Admiral, without utilizing warp travel it will take us approximately 75 years to reach the nearest inhabited planet, but I don't think we actually want to go there... the nearest planet is Calth."

"75 years just to be blown apart by the Ultramarine's system defences... there has to be a better option Admiral."

"I am sorry Captain, but we wouldn't even be able to get to Calth if we wanted to. Our fuel will only last for 20 years and our air supplies will run out long before that.  
It would appear that we will die here, alone and forgotten in Imperial space."

At this the bridge fell silent as the whole command crew contemplated the manner of their deaths: To die alone and forgotten, from a lack of air, rather than in battle and with a purpose; the antithesis of the Sycorian belief system.  
After 5 minutes of silence, Regulus interrupted the crew's contemplation with some very interesting information.

"Admiral, Captain; I have something important to show you both. I will put it up on the main view screen."

The view screen cut to a radiological sensor readout of the local area of space. Most of the area was a blur of static due to the residual radiation from Sycorian weaponry and the energies thrown out via warp portals.  
But off to one side, was a clear line, leading away from the battle.

"As you can see, the trail leading away from this area is consistent with a damaged and leaking plasma reactor. As you can also see, the dissipation curve suggests that the ship is moving at a speed relative to one quarter of our fleet's top speed, even while towing the Tachyon.  
If we are lucky we may be able to catch whoever attacked the Tachyon's fleet, before they make a warp jump."

"Very good Regulus, very good. Navigator set a course to follow the fleeing enemy maximum regular speed. It is time for vengeance against those who would dare attack us!"

"Course laid in Admiral. For the light and the people!"

"For the light and the people, Navigator." Replied Admiral Grant

**RSNS Norfund, Bridge, 2 days later**

For 2 days the Sycorian fleet moved at top speed following the trail of the damaged enemy ship. Unfortunately for them, the trail was growing steadily weaker, meaning that whoever it was they were chasing was getting close to fixing their engines.  
Then quite suddenly, 3 hours in to the third day of the chase, the active sensors picked up 2 distinct signals dead ahead of the fleet. Immediately a full battle alert was sounded and the entire fleet was made ready for battle, 20 escort ships, 3 cruisers and the battleship _Norfund_, a fleet that combined many of the best factors of each of the Sycorian ship designs, the only thing lacking was heavy carrier support. The carrier and her escort wing of 2 destroyers and 12 escorts had been forced back to Sycorax to help deal with the fallout of the most recent political power play in the fleet.  
It sickened Admiral Grant to know that there were those in the fleet and on the ruling council who would sell the entire empire for the sake of a personal disagreement, but that was what it was to be Sycorian, to be driven by a code of honour dating back almost 30 thousand years.

"This would be so much better if we still had the _Immutable _in the fleet" Said Captain Yar

"Very true Captain, very true, but Vice-Admiral Terro was called back home after that moron, Abkar decided to try and seize power again." Replied Admiral Grant "And it's a good thing he was, his flotilla contains some of the most trustworthy and powerful of the noble heirs. If they had been lost, Abkar would be able to seize almost complete control of the Empire and would probably end up deciding to 'expand' our influence into Imperial space; we both know what that would cause."

"Yes Admiral we all know full well that that would cause the complete destruction of the Sycorian Empire. It doesn't stop me from feeling annoyed that almost half our fleet isn't here though."

"Well never mind, it isn't particularly important at the moment anyway. Although I also wish that Terro and his flotilla were here. Let us concentrate on the coming battle first, and then we can curse Abkar and his idiocy once we kill these enemies.  
Navigator! How much time remaining until we reach the hostile ships?"

"ETA to sensor range is 3 minutes Admiral; we will be in firing range 5 minutes after that."

**3 minutes later**

"Admiral, we are in sensor range, scans reveal that the large ship is a heavily damaged Ultramarines Battle barge. A cruiser sized vessel is closing and preparing to launch boarders from what I can tell. A second unknown contact is approaching the barge and is firing on the remaining point defences; weapon signatures match those from the Tachyons log."

"So they believe themselves to be able to take on a Battle barge with a fleet at their back do they?  
Open a channel; fleet-wide, its time people knew why we are going into battle."

"Channel open sir! We are also receiving a very weak transmission from the Battle barge sir, they are 'demanding' that we assist them destroy the 'xeno filth that dares attack our holdings'. They seem quite adamant about it."

"Great, a pissed off Space Marine to deal with after this is over.  
This is Admiral Grant to the fleet; we are currently moving in to engage an enemy that has destroyed the 2nd affiliated exploration fleet. We will have vengeance for what has befallen our brothers and sisters; we will burn this new darkness from the heavens and we will uphold our traditions as we have for the last 31 millennia! No one is left behind! No one dies without honour! And NOONE survives making an enemy of us! For we are Sycorians!  
Move in and attack, disable the ship and prepare boarding parties, we will learn what has befallen the bodies of our allies and we WILL rescue ANY survivors onboard those ships!"

With the speech over the fleet moved in, moving at full flank speed the Escorts pulled ahead of the rest of the fleet in a standard half sphere, the moment they got into range they launched volley after volley of laser blasts, blowing great sections out of the enemy ships' engines and forward weapon arrays. Caught by surprise (somehow) the shields of the alien cruiser were deactivated as it launched boarding parties at the crippled Battle barge and the first few volleys from the escorts ripped great holes in the side of the cruiser class ship.  
The damage caused by the first 3 volleys was extensive; 3 of the 10 main laser batteries on the ships prow were blown clean off, another 4 taking heavy damage, the engines had also taken a beating with both of the port exhaust sections being blown clean off and the main interstellar drive taking a direct hit, effectively taking the unknown cruiser down to under half its original strength in a few seconds.

Seconds after the initial volleys the cruisers shields flared up, deflecting the majority of the next laser strikes although a few still got through, scorching the armour plating. With this, the cruiser turned and fired its 3 remaining functional cannons at the nearest escort which happened to be the _Light of the Dawn_ one of the Norfund's escorts, the 3 high powered laser beams hit dead centre, totally collapsing the shields of the _Light of the Dawn_ and blowing a hole through 3 decks forcing her to retreat.

By this time of course the heavy capital ships were coming into range, the Norfund opened up with a shield drainer, a highly charged electron bubble cannon, firing a pulsating blue ball straight at the unknown cruiser, upon impact the ball split apart and spread like fire over the shields, causing them to pop out of existence. Once the shields were down both cruisers fired their main cannons, heavy bore Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, firing two 250 ton slugs of depleted uranium straight into the enemy cruiser's engineering section, blowing the engines and a fair amount of the ship, into atoms thus ending the battle decisively.

The alien escort ship had attempted to retreat almost as soon as the battle began, leaving its larger cousin to take the full brunt of the Sycorian fleets wrath, while it attempted to slip away quietly. There would be no such luck for this ship as the _Soria's_ escorts chased it down and blew its engines to pieces with a coordinated strike of 5 laser cannons.

"Admiral, once their engineering and power generators were destroyed I was suddenly able to scan the entirety of the enemy ships, there are over 5000 life forms aboard the cruiser, of those almost 3500 are prisoners; leaving a remaining crew complement of that cruiser at a little over 1500. The Escort however contains no prisoners and a crew complement of only 600; I suggest that we burn the escort of all outer plating and leave the crew to die from vacuum exposure."

"Ok Regulus, I will take your idea into consideration, but we'll deal with the escort later, right now the cruiser is the important target, we have to save those prisoners. Do you have any other information on their capabilities?"

"Yes Admiral; the Cruiser has been totally disabled, the only functional systems onboard seem to be the air circulators and lights. Their personal armour, I can also scan although I am unsure as to why since our scanners should not operate to such a degree at this range. But I have discovered that the armour used by our enemies is almost totally impervious to laser or other energy based weaponry, projectile weapons however should be very effective, especially using hardened Tungsten rounds."

"That is very informative Regulus, please arm all boarding parties with projectile weaponry and prepare to launch boarders on my mark. Oh have you found any way to defend against their hand held weaponry? I would rather my marines go in with the most effective gear possible."

"I am sorry Admiral, there is no current way to improve our armour technology to be able to withstand their attacks although energy dispersal aerials may be effective in the future."

"Regulus, EDAs are massive, no one can carry them around without the aid of an exoskeleton and I'm damn sure the marines can't use those. Nor would they want to; the exoskeletons themselves require a plug-in power source."

"Yes Admiral I am aware of the problem, however the EDAs may still be effective on defensive operations and it would be possible to-  
I apologise admiral, I will prepare the boarding craft rather than waste your time with idle theories."

The Admiral and Captain glanced at each other at this, Regulus never avoided a chance to gloat about his abilities or talk about the newest theory he had come up with.

"Uh... Ok then Regulus, notify the marines of the change to their weapon load outs and have them report inside of five minutes, they've had enough time to prepare already."

"Yes Captain. Notifying Squads Alpha through Kelta, all squad commanders have acknowledged and are currently reissuing weaponry... All 700 marines are now ready sir; should I prepare to launch the boarding craft?"

"Yes launch the boarding craft and then have Polaris warm up the rescue shuttles; we are getting those prisoners back."

"Copy that Admiral, all boarding craft are away, 30 seconds until boarding action begins. Polaris is warming up rescue shuttles and all backup teams have been put on standby."

**30 Seconds later, Fenris class assault shuttle F-A492**

"Alright Alpha let's go, out the hatch now! Hit 'em hard and fast, don't let them set up a cross fire in these halls." Yelled Sergeant Agon as Alpha squad rushed out of their assault shuttle, through the boarding tube and into the hole melted in the side of the enemy ship.

The entire squad was armed with advanced projectile assault weapons, usually reserved for the specialists it had been discovered that these were the only weapons that did shit against the enemy armour, the 240 round a minute rifles fired armour piercing Tungsten rounds, specially designed to break through heavy armour (such as what Space Marines wore). The weapons were brutally effective at close to medium ranges with their targeting assistance being a key feature.

By the time Agon had left the shuttle, after making sure noone had balked and tried to stay behind, 4 enemy soldiers were already dead at the hands of Alpha squad and more were advancing down the corridor.

"Shit! Find cover!" Yelled a corporal seconds before a laser beam punched clean through his chest and impacted the floor behind him.

"Gods damned focused lasers! Return fire! Take as many of them down as you can, cover's useless against those things!" The 24 remaining members of Alpha squad returned fire against the advancing aliens, shredding 4 of the 5 and crippling the last one with a few good shots to both arms and legs.

After this small skirmish was over, Sergeant Agon moved up to the crippled alien and took a good look at it. About 5 feet tall and extremely thin, it looked as though the only thing that made these creatures formidable in any way was their armour and focused laser weapons; physically they were weak and cowardly, as evidenced by the shrieks of pain and fear the crippled soldier was emitting.

"Alright then, grab some of those weapons and let's see how effective they are against this alien armour of theirs, I want to know if we should bother stripping the bodies or not." A Private walked over and calmly handed Agon one of the bulky focused las rifles, used by the aliens. "Damn, this thing is heavy, how do they manage to get any speed while carrying this crap?" he grunted "well let's see what it can do then." Agon pointed the weapon at the alien on the floor and pulled the trigger.

The blast from the laser rifle punched a hole clean through both sides of the alien armour and must have touched off a power source as the whole armour surface was suddenly pockmarked with small explosions as sensors built into the suit overloaded and blew out.

"Damn... definitely not worth nicking that armour then. These guns are almost as effective against it as ours are." Agon dropped the gun and walked away from the alien's body in disgust "Alright people, let's move out. We are to link up with squads Beta, Delta and Kappa and then move on and secure the nearest holding area. Move out!"

After 20 minutes of sporadic fighting, 2 casualties for the Sycorian marines and almost 30 for the aliens, they met up with what remained of Kappa squad, pinned down behind a blast shield that the enemy weapons couldn't penetrate.

"Kappa squad, this is Alpha, we are approaching your position, what is your status? Over."

"Alpha this is Kappa, we are pinned down and cannot move! Heavy casualties, we need help! You're approaching from the same way the fires coming from, can you take them out?" Came the reply from Kappa's Sergeant.

"Roger that Kappa, we will take the enemy fire away from you in 20 seconds, then come out and hit 'em too."

"Roger that Alpha! Standing by for your move."

20 seconds later, Alpha squad rounded a corner in the corridor and ran straight into 50 alien soldiers firing down the corridor, all with their backs toward the 22 remaining marines. Alpha squad spread out across the corridor, moving quickly and quietly into firing positions, then opened fire into their enemy. 44 of the aliens fell in a matter of seconds, the remaining 6 diving for cover through the small doorway to the left, which they had apparently been defending.

Kappa squad rose from their cover and moved up to the other side of the doorway, of the 25 marines to land, only 12 were still alive.

"So... what do we do now? Do we just leave those 6 in there or do we charge in and get slaughtered?" Asked Kappa's Sergeant

"Neither" replied Agon "Kappa squad will remain here and stop them coming out while Alpha squad will continue on and hook up with Delta and Beta squads. Then we come back in force and toss a few grenades in before charging.  
That room is one of the holding blocks; Regulus says that there are 500 prisoners in there along with 26 surviving guards."

With this, Alpha squad moved off, while Kappa squad repositioned the blast shields they had been taking over behind to in front of the entrance to the holding block. It took Alpha squad another 30 minutes to locate Delta and Beta squads who had already linked up. During this 30 minute period Kappa squad had picked off 3 of the remaining alien guards and Alpha had killed another fire team of 10.  
The battle was going very well for the Sycorians, 3 of the 7 full holding blocks had been liberated and the 1500 prisoners had been evacuated. The Sycorian assault teams had lost a total of 142 men and killed just under 1000 aliens.

**RSNS Norfund, bridge, the same time**

"Admiral, reports confirm that our marines have captured just over half of the enemy ship, there are still a few pockets of resistance in the secure areas but they should be dealt with soon. Assault group Fara is attempting to capture the bridge at this time; they are encountering heavily dug in and prepared resistance and are requesting reinforcements."

"What are our casualty figures Regulus?"

"We have 142 marines KIA and almost 80 wounded sir, but enemy casualties are much higher, almost 1000 dead or severely wounded. The enemy resistance now consists of a mere 400 soldiers and just over 100 unarmed crewmen, the majority of these enemies are close to the bridge, although there are still almost 150 soldiers guarding the remaining holding areas."

"Ok, send Fara another 3 squads of marines from the reserves and have the rest of our forces concentrate on capturing those holding areas."

"Yes Admiral... Alpha, Delta, Beta and Kappa squads have just reported in, they have captured another holding area and killed a total of 206 guards between them. I am launching rescue shuttles to collect the newly freed prisoners.  
Alpha has also requested extraction for teams Beta and Kappa, they have suffered heavy casualties."

"Request granted Regulus, get those squads out of there, they've completed their mission. Are Alpha and Delta in a position to assist the push on the Bridge?"

"Yes Admiral, if they hurry, they could catch one of the enemy defensive positions from the side as Fara arrive from the front."

"Very good, order them to join in the assault on the bridge and coordinate their assault with Fara to cause the maximum disruption."

"Coordinating now Admiral, Fara command acknowledges, as do Alpha and Delta. The Assault will begin in 5 minutes."

**RSNS Norfund, bridge, 5 minutes later**

"The final assault has begun Admiral. Fara is encountering heavy defensive fire, Alpha and Delta will begin flanking assault in 30 seconds...  
Flanking assault begun, enemies have been routed from forward defensive positions, 73 confirmed enemy casualties enemy second line has been overrun, assault force now moving on to final defensive emplacements before Bridge doors.  
Enemy defences include automated turrets; Fara has been made aware and are continuing assault with support from Alpha and Delta. Heavy casualties have been inflicted on our troops but the position has been overrun.  
Bridge doors have been reached by assault force, they have been sealed. Detecting void shield reinforcement on the bridge doors, Fara has requested heavy demolitions equipment; specialist squad 'wreckers' have been dispatched to deal with the bridge doors."

"Very good Regulus, have we rescued all of the prisoners yet?"

"Yes Admiral all prisoners have been safely rescued... the Ultramarines battle barge has repaired its engines and is moving into boarding range of the alien cruiser."

"Damned Space marines! Communications, open a channel to the Ultramarines."

"Channel open sir, they are responding."

"This is Admiral Nemanor Grant of the Sycorian Empire, contacting the Ultramarine battle barge, please respond."

"_What do you want Sycorian? You are in Ultramarine territory; we claim this alien ship and all prisoners aboard it as our own in the name of the God Emperor of Mankind." _Came the response from the Battle barge

"You are in no position to make demands Space marine! If it were not for my fleet you would be dead and your ship would be in pieces in the void. That ship is ours as are all souls aboard it; you will cease your acceleration towards, and will keep your distance from, that cruiser."

"_Stay your tongue Filth! This space and all in it are the property of the Ultramarines. Your very presence here is an act of war against the Holy Imperium."_

"These aliens have destroyed a fleet of civilian vessels of the Sycorian Empire. They are responsible for almost 10,000 deaths and I plan to make them pay for that! I will never allow such a blatant attack on the Empire to go unpunished, so stand down or I will have your ship disabled to secure my revenge!"

"_Very well Sycorian, but know that you have made an enemy this day. The Imperium will burn your Empire and all of its protectorates for your violation of our space; and I will lead the Ultramarine contingent with joy in my heart at seeing you burn."_

"If you try anything Space Marine, I will burn your planet and your brothers to glass. Now leave this place and return to a repair station, there is no honour in fighting a cripple."

"_My ship is far from crippled Sycor-" _With that the Admiral cut the channel.

"I hate dealing with Space Marines... Regulus, what is the status of our assault on the enemy cruiser's bridge?"

"The bridge doors have just been destroyed Admiral, Fara assault section is moving in, they are encountering heavy resistance but are making progress. Alpha squad reports a number of unarmed aliens have been captured and Delta squad reports indicate an AI interface location.  
Delta have plugged in to the interface port... I now have control over several aspects of the ships systems including navigation and internal weapons. All internal weapon systems have been disabled, navigation system is fully functional and I have found mention of spare warp navigation equipment in a forward storage bay.  
Fara has secured the bridge, calculating losses and kills for the operation.

We have taken 413 casualties, 263 KIA and 150 WIA. Enemy casualty projections are 1487KIA, 8 WIA and 5 captured without injury."

"Very good, very good... prepare holding cells for all 13 prisoners and bring them aboard under heavy guard. Transfer the names of our dead to my personal directory and evacuate all injured marines. Have that ship stripped of all valuable technologies and then blow it apart.  
I will be in my quarters writing letters of condolence."

"Admiral, the enemy escort ship is still there. What are your orders concerning it?" Asked the Captain

"Will we get enough navigation equipment from the cruiser to be able to get home?"

"Yes Admiral, we will be able to return home via warp travel using the equipment from the cruiser."

"In that case, have the Soria blow the escort to hell. Then jump us back to Sycorax as soon as possible."

"As you command Admiral." Replied the Captain "Soria command, this is Captain Yar of the Norfund. Orders from the Admiral are for you to move in and destroy the alien escort ship, then we will be jumping back home for repairs and to drop off our prisoners."

The Soria acknowledged their orders and moved into range of the alien escort, they fired all their forward laser batteries in a single volley, blowing the escort ship into component atoms. The fleet then took up defensive positions around the alien cruiser, waiting for the marines to return with navigation equipment.

* * *

**So thats Chapter 3... please review, also if you feel able to write good SpaceMarine characters, please contact me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Repercussion and Retaliation

**Authors note: This is chapter 4 of the Dragon wars, enjoy, read and review.**

**Many thanks to Lord Mandalore who wrote the Space marine section of this chapter.**

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Chapter 4: Repercussions and Retaliations

"A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."

**- Confucius, Ancient Terran Philosopher/Statesman/General**

**RSNS Norufnd, Bridge, 3 days later**

It had taken several hours for the Sycorian marines to collect all of the needed navigation equipment from the crippled alien ship, while they were doing so Regulus busied himself looking through the computer database of the ship; what he discovered would shock the Empire to its very core and would likely spell the end of any hopes for peace in the Empire.  
The Cruiser was the SX-48 Lar'shi Cruiser, Mal'caor, but the soldiers weren't Tau or at the very least... not any sort of Tau encountered by the Empire beforehand, and some of the rooms on the cruiser... a number of marines had been stood down pending psychological treatment after seeing them; rooms caked in human blood, with devices not seen outside of horrific museums for almost ten millennia... torture chambers, with their most recent victims still strapped down in various stages of being ripped apart. Squad Epsilon had actually found one survivor in the torture chambers... a Sycorian Lieutenant from the Tachyon... Squad Epsilon had put the man out of his misery and pain almost immediately upon discovering his fate, 3 of the squad members had completely broken down after that, and another 7 had been shocked so deeply they could not continue. The entirety of Squad Epsilon was now on constant suicide watch in the Norfund's medical bay pending evaluation by the ship's councillor.

Regulus decided to merely file away his discovery rather than bring it directly to the attention of Admiral Grant. It was not the right time to inform the admiral that the Tau appeared to be responsible for the raid.

With the marines finally able to disembark the Tau cruiser, with enough navigation equipment to get home, the Sycorian fleet moved off to the traditional star ship execution distance and launched a single volley from every single fore laser cannon in the entire fleet. 89 high powered laser blasts, struck the disabled cruiser at once, obliterating the defenceless ship and reducing it to its component sub-atomic particles.

With the enemy Cruiser destroyed the Sycorian fleet about installing their newly acquired navigation equipment and plotted a course back to Sycorax.

**RSNS Norfund, Bridge, 3 Days later**

"Admiral, we are one hour away from transitioning back into normal space, we should arrive at a distance of twelve million km from Sorenson security station." Came Regulus' voice from the bridge speakers. "The entire fleet will transition at once, so the security station will likely send out a patrol to our transition point since it is so large."

"Very well Regulus, although that is the edge of the security cordon, if you are off by more than two million km, we will be destroyed by the defence fleet before we even fully exit the warp.  
As it is, make certain all ships have functional IFF transponders with valid codes. I have no wish for a repeat of the 4th fiasco."

"Yes Admiral, all ships in the fleet are transmitting valid IFF tags and all transmitters are fully functional. Upon exit of the warp I will transmit emergency code Sigma-blue-seven, just in case..."

"Very good... the Sigma-Seven code should ensure a swift transition into dry dock and a meeting with the ruling council..."

"Are you sure you want that meeting Admiral? The Council will likely have you stripped of your rank for entering Imperial space... and Abkar will most certainly attempt to have your entire family discredited." Noted Captain Yar

"I am fully aware of how Abkar operates captain. But I will not see him ruin the future of my family or of our people; I will have the support of at least 3 councillors anyway, I foresee no problem unless Terro failed in his duty... and if that has happened then I have no wish to watch as our beloved Empire is burned from existence under Abkar's misguided leadership."

"Very true Admiral... I fear that if Abkar has indeed taken over the Empire that this fleet must flee... I shall not allow us to die for the visions of a madman. If that is the case, I will gather as many ships as possible and as many of the remaining nobles and flee the Empire." Said Captain Yar. This revelation was followed by a shocked silence.

Finally Grant replied "I never realized that your family dispute ran that deeply Yar. Although I must admit that if given the choice I would rather leave than fight in Abkar's name... how many of your house feel this way?"

"The entire noble house Yarish feels this way Admiral. If the Abkar house were ever to take total power, we have sworn to break away from the Empire and to persecute them for our honour."

"The entire noble house? Your house provides fifteen percent of our military officers Yar! If you break away then the SSF will be crippled, and my house will likely follow you... along with the Terronar, Kalbisith and Sitornar houses. Not to mention all the minor houses who would follow us all... It would begin a civil war..." Gasped Admiral Grant "I had hoped that the fractionalisation of our government would never come to a head like this. But I see that was naive of me."

"Admiral, Captain, it is of very little use discussing such matters at the present time. We must first return and present a report to the Council. We must also properly register all refugees; the process has barely reached the halfway mark at this time.  
Transmission to real space in five minutes."

**Five minutes later Sycoria system, Two million kilometres from SSF security line.**

The 5th security flotilla, launched from Sorensen station, took up positions flanking the rapidly growing warp portal, prepared to fire upon any hostile ship that should chose to appear in the home system. The flotilla of 2 destroyers and 10 escorts didn't have long to wait after taking position, for within one minute of them taking station the first ship came through the portal, a damaged Sycorian escort flanked by two undamaged ones appeared and transmitted the Sigma-blue-7 code; seconds later the rest of the 1st Fleet transitioned.

Within seconds of transitioning the fleet was given permission to head straight for Sycorax, for the emergency meeting with the ruling council in 2 hours time and for the use of the orbital dry docks. During the fleets move to planetary orbit, Regulus downloaded all recent information on Sycorian politics and government. He put up a number of the headlines on secondary view screens around the ship, headlines showing the destruction wrought by the Abkar house's attempt to take over by force, headlines showing Norin Abkar being arrested for treason by troops of now Admiral Terro's flotilla and finally, articles showing casualty figures of the noble houses from the brief revolt... These last articles showed horrific damage to the Sycorian nobility; 3 entire minor houses had been killed, the Sitornar house had lost all of their elders and almost half of their overall members and the most distressing damage done to the Sycorian nobility by far; the damage to house Granotash, Admiral Grants noble house and the most powerful of the noble houses of Sycoria, had been all but eliminated, the only survivors were those few off planet at the time, the entire noble house which had numbered in the thousands was now reduced to a mere ten adults and three children.

When Admiral Grant read this he slumped back in his chair, shocked into inaction by the death visited upon his family by the traitorous Abkar was beyond imagining. Admiral Grant was now the most senior member of his entire house, going from 1523rd in seniority to 1st... The Granotash seat on the ruling council was now his, as was the responsibility of governing all Granotash private lands and watching over the remaining house members.

"Congratulations Councillor Granotash... I... I'm sorry about your house. Was your direct family on Sycorax at the time or did your wife and brother survive?" Said Captain Yar in a shaky voice

"I... do not deserve to sit on the council... I have never wished for that path..."Replied the shocked Admiral Grant "My brother was stationed on the _Wrath of Sycria_, attached to the Sycor defence force, I do not know if he survived or not... my wife... was on Soriac, visiting our holdings there... I fear she is dead."

"Admiral, House Abkar staged this revolt at the perfect time, the time of the remembrance festival, all noble members not on active duty were in the system attending celebrations... the celebrations will not be held again by decree of Councillors Kalbisith and Merchocar.  
Lady Grano... Grant was arranging for the festivities on Soriac at the time, she is suspected to be dead but her body has yet to be identified. An orbital weapons strike from an Abkar destroyer flattened the Granotash holdings on Soriac where she was working... I am sorry Admiral." Said Regulus. "The fleet is now arriving in dry dock; security forces are demanding the arrest of all Abkar members in the fleet, only one of our ships has any such people sir. I am directing them to dock first and alerting security forces to their presence."

With that the escort ship _Honour of Belan _began moving forward and began docking procedures. However, halfway through the docking procedure, the escort's captain, Horatio Akan, 1720th senior of the house of Abkar discovered that he would be arrested and charged with treason along with the rest of his house members on the ship. With this discovery the _Honour of Belan_ attempted to escape from the system, cancelling all docking procedures, sealing off all electronic access and firing up shields, engines and weapons.

The 1st fleet had of course kept a discrete target lock on the _Honour of Belan_ the entire time and moved to block its escape, powering up shields and weapons as they did so. Admiral Grant demanded that Akan surrender immediately or face the wrath of House Granotash. With this Akan opened fire upon the Norfund, his fire striking directly upon the shields and doing no damage. With this blatant act of aggression against his commander and his people, the entire 1st fleet prepared to fire.

"Admiral, every ship in the fleet is requesting permission to fire upon the traitor. Who shall be given the honour of vengeance? Everyone in the fleet has lost a loved one or family member to the Abkar betrayal." Said Regulus

"No one shall fire upon that ship. That right is reserved for the Norfund; I will have revenge for my house!" Thundered Admiral Grant

"Acknowledged sir, the fleet captains accept our right to the kill."

"Weapons! I want a volley of laser cannon on their main engines and weapons, and a single torpedo straight into their bridge. I would rather disable the ship than destroy her outright. Take aim and fire when ready!"

Ten seconds later, a flash of fifteen laser cannons brightened the darkness of space; a half volley from the Norfund obliterated the escort's shields, engines and weapons. Two seconds after the impact of this volley a single torpedo launched from the Norfund's forward torpedo tube. The sleek black shape flitted across the darkness and impacted the _Honour of Belan_ dead centre, boring through five decks and coming to a stop protruding two feet into the escort's bridge.  
Captain Akan had just enough time to scream with terror at his death before the torpedo detonated, a sheet of liquid fire washed forward from the tip of the barracuda class torpedo, a wall of flame with a temperature of 20,000 kelvin washed through the escort ship, melting every interior surface and reducing the crew to ashes, leaving only their identification tags behind.

With the traitorous ship destroyed the rest of the 1st fleet moved in and docked for repairs and resupply. The moment the Norfund docked, Sycorian security troopers locked down half the orbital dock to ensure that Admiral Grant could travel to the ground without having to worry for this life.  
The Admiral took two squads of marines with him when he went down to Sycorax, wary of the fact that many Abkar supporters were still at large. With his guard of 50 Sycorian marines from the Norfund, Admiral Grant headed toward the main elevator to get down to the planet surface.

**Sycorax, Sycorian Government compound, 1 hour later**

Admiral Grant and his guard made it to the RSCG (Royal Sycorian Centre of Government) with only one difficult encounter, a single Abkar life guard, loyal to his master above all other things, attempted to kill him before he got into the security convoy at the Star port. The man was killed almost immediately upon pulling out his weapon, taking five shots to the chest before he could fully draw his pistol.  
Apart from that one incident the travel from the Star port to the Central Government buildings went smoothly. Sycorax city was under martial law whilst the SSF hunted down the remaining Abkar loyalists, so there were very few people on the streets as the convoy sped past.

When they arrived at the council chambers Admiral Grant was taken aback by the sheer amount of destruction evident there; half of the seats were in pieces around the room, the rest were blackened and damaged; one entire wall had been destroyed and had been quickly replaced by a prefab plastacreet wall; and almost all of the murals and statues, dedicated to the glorious history of the Sycorian people, dating back all the way to when the colony had been founded, at the height of the Ancient Human Empire. Many of the destroyed artworks were irreplaceable, having been made by masters of the craft whose arts had long since been lost, and even those that were merely damaged would require years of restoration work by the best artisans of the Empire.

It angered Grant hugely that Abkar had managed to set such events in motion and for them to have been so successful. In a single day, Abkar had almost brought the Sycorian Empire to its knees. _If it hadn't been for Admiral Terro and his returning battlegroup..._ Grant shuddered to think of the damage that might have been done had they encountered the warp storm a day earlier.

The remaining Councillors, those few who had survived the attack, were gathered in the least damaged section of the building, the defence minister's offices awaiting Admiral Grant. He walked through the building, saddened by what he saw, until he reached the room where the council was awaiting him. Admiral Grant composed himself and entered.

**Sycorax, Sycorian Minister of Defense conference room**

Admiral Grant entered the conference room with two of his marine guards in tow. Awaiting him were the 3 remaining councillors and a moderately sized security force, consisting of 30 SSF guards spaced around the room, whom Grant's guards quickly joined.

"Welcome, Lord Granotash, it is heartening to see that some of your noble house has survived the recent schism." Intoned Lord Kalbisith

"I thank you Lord Kalbisith; I have never had any ambitions to sit on this council, nor to be responsible for the survival of my house. I have only ever wished to serve Sycoria to the best of my abilities by serving in the SSF.  
I am saddened deeply by what has transpired while my fleet was away, and I am even more saddened that this is but the beginnings of our difficulties." Replied Grant/Granotash in a grave voice

"What do you mean, this is just the beginning? We have only just survived this internal conflict and you would tell us that we must prepare for another? The Empire cannot survive another at this time." Stated Lord Paraillo "An outside threat however... may be just what we need at this time, although it saddens me to say it, a war would bring our people together again after this."

"What you say is truth Paraillo, but we must ask ourselves; if we begin a war to bring the Empire back together under a common banner, are we any different from what Abkar wanted?" Came a voice from the shadows. Grant/Granotash was surprised by this new voice, for it was that of Admiral Terro, a man who openly despised politics and power plays.

"Vice Admiral Terro? I am surprised that you are here, I know of your distaste for politics." Said Grant/Granotash, wincing inwardly at the surprise in his voice.

"Yes my friend, I understand your surprise at my presence and it is true, I and my house do despise politics. However in the wake of Abkar's treachery I find myself thrust into the fore. I was sorry to learn of your family's fate, if my flotilla had returned sooner I may have been able to save them.  
Nevertheless, we must continue and lead the Empire. You said that this was just the beginning my friend, what did you mean by that?"

Grant/Granotash proceeded to explain what occurred to the 1st fleet on their recent mission. Displays showed reports from Regulus, Polaris and Captain Yar, detailing the discovery of the 2nd affiliated fleet and the combat with the alien ships that bore so many resemblances to Tau designs. When the report reached the section detailing the conversation with the Ultramarine captain, Lords Kalbisith and Paraillo became clearly dismayed.

"Lord Granotash, you of all people know that we cannot survive a war with the Imperium of Man. What were you thinking when you demanded the retreat of Space Marines inside their own territory? This will likely lead to a war we cannot win." Said Lord Kalbisith "Surely you knew this when you refused their demands, and yet you did so anyway... why? Why would you do such a thing?"

"I would have thought my reasons clear enough Lord Kalbisith. The demands of honour and vengeance cannot be refuted or denied, and these aliens had destroyed the entire 2nd affiliated fleet. The souls of our dead brothers and sisters could not have peace until the aliens were burned from existence by Sycorian fury."

"These actions are regrettable Lord Kalbisith, but ultimately unavoidable. A number of Space Marine chapters have been crying for our destruction almost since first contact, as have a number of the Imperium's Inquisitors. They quite simply cannot accept that we are not a part of their glorious and holy Imperium. It was for this exact reason that our ancestors chose to refuse compliance during their Great Crusade.  
It has always been known that the new children of Terra could, with ease, wipe us from existence, but our forefathers knew something else as well, something which has been passed down from long before Humanities first great journey into the stars; that it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees." Stated Admiral Terro in a calm voice. "This is the reason that we refused entry into the Imperium, for the sake of our honour and the freedom of our people from the dogmatic theocracy which was certain to take over after the treachery of the Warmaster."

"We are fully aware of our heritage Terro! We have no need for a history lecture from you." Snapped Lord Paraillo. "We must decide upon what shall be done about this new threat, and about the Imperial response which is surely on its way."

**Imperial Warship, Main Meeting Chambers**

Several armour clad commanders sat in a large circle around a Dura steel table. Many prominent figures were present, including the 3rd Company Leader of the Brotherhood of Ultramar, the 6th Company Leader of the White Consuls, the 2nd Company Leader of the Novamarines, as well as the Sons of Guilliman Chapter Master Zante Hyacinth. Other marines were also present that represented the Liberators, Novamarines, the Prators of Orpheus, and several Heralds and Brotherhood of Ultramar members. All gathered to discuss the approaching Sycorians.

The 6th Company Leader of the White Consuls leaned back into his chair, quite relaxed.

"It is quite obvious to me," he began, "That we shouldn't begin hostilities with the intruders yet. They have so far shown no real signs of aggression.

The Novamarine scoffed at this.

"They are traitors, they have no alibi." The Novamarine looked around the room, eyeing his brothers. "They turned their back on the God-Emperor. They are no better than Chaos!"

"_Chaos,_ is what we should truly be worrying about." The White Consul retaliated. "We are still embroiled in two holy Crusades, against Chaos, on the other side of the Imperium; we cannot simply start another one without good reason."

"I agree." Stated the Guilliman Chapter Master. Zante nodded at the White Concul. "They have done nothing to provoke us at this time. They cannot be proven heretics until we are sure. They could be a lost colony from the Dark Ages, and I'm quite sure their weapons and ancient technologies could help us in our cause."

The Brotherhood of Ultramar 3rd Company Leader slammed a mailed fist onto the table, nearly shattering it.

"Their technology could DAMN us. I will not have any foreign creatures, be they human or xeno, enter Imperium space alive!"

"Calm yourself!" Zante commanded, "I know well of your xenophobia. You are quite well known for your dealings with aliens. Perhaps you would have a happier life if you had been born into the Inquisition or perhaps leading a Deathwatch kill squad. "

The Ultramar's face twisted with rage.

"How can you all be so calm about this? While we argue and decide whether or not to let these traitors live, they could be preparing for war at any moment."

The Novamarine nodded. "While my approach is not as extreme as his, I do agree with my brother of the Brotherhood of Ultramar. It is quite troubling that they have intelligent machine spirits. Such abominations were banned by the Imperium and are unquestionable devices of heresy. The Iron man rebellion has taught us this much, and it was one of the first laws laid down by the God Emperor himself, that artificial intelligence of any kind must be purged from the galaxy."

"Though if they did not know of the God-Emperor, then they could not know it was heresy. Shall we obliterate them from existence because of their ignorance?" Zante countered.

"_Ignorance_ is a step towards Chaos!" The Ultramar roared, "_Ignorance_ is what caused the Horus Heresy! Ignorance is what pushed the traitor legions against Holy Terra! _IGNORANCE_ is why the God-Emperor is forever bound to the Golden Throne!"

Murmurs of agreement ran through some of the Space Marines present. Zante frowned, and stood up.

"I shall take the 3rd Company of the Sons of Guilliman to the Sycorian Fleet." He stated boldly, "There I will begin to open ties with them and find out what they are truly up to. Be it for righteousness or evil."

The Ultramar shifted in his chair. "I will accept this offer. Though you shall not venture there with at least two Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos. Perhaps they shall be able to whip the truth into you!"

Zante nodded, "I will accept this."

The Novamarine also nodded in agreement, "Very well, I believe we should avoid war if possible. I shall assign Inquisitors Aran Morsha and Gidean Tregh to accompany you. I know both well and they will not have their judgment clouded by prejudice and fear."

Zante Hyacinth nodded at the Novamarine, and the other representatives rose to their feet. Zante looked at each of them in turn.

"Let us prepare then. I shall go to the Sycorians with haste. May the Emperor be with you."


End file.
